Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2009-10: Drafted by London in the third round (51st overall) of the 2009 OHL Priority Draft, Dane Fox appeared in 26 games with the Knights and skated in 23 games with the Strathroy Rockets in the GOJHL. He scored 1 goal with 6 assists and was an even plus/minus with 13 penalty minutes for the Knights during the regular season. Fox skated in two of twelve playoff games and had an even plus/minus with 1 assist. In 23 games for Strathroy he scored 11 goals with 10 assists and had 103 penalty minutes.

2010-11: Fox’ ice time steadily increased in his first full season with London. In 51 games he scored 11 goals with 12 assists and was minus-two with 55 penalty minutes. The Knights reached the OHL playoffs despite finishing last in the Midwest Division. Fox played in all six playoff games in the first round series against Memorial Cup-bound Owen Sound and was minus-four with 1 goal and 6 penalty minutes.

2011-12: Fox was among the top scorers for league-leading London before being traded to last-place Erie in January in a trade-deadline deal. Fox scored 11 goals with 12 assists in 34 games with the Knights prior to the trade. He was one of the key offensive players for the Otters after the trade. In 62 games between the two teams Fox scored 23 goals with 31 assists and was minus-12 with 87 penalty minutes. Erie won just ten games and failed to make the OHL playoffs. Fox was invited to the NHL Draft Combine and ranked 46th amongst North American skaters in Central Scouting’s final rankings prior to the 2012 NHL Draft but was not selected.

2012-13: Fox attended the New York Rangers prospect camp and then suffered a freak foot injury in August which kept him out of the Erie Otters lineup until December. He scored at just under a point-per-game pace after returning, finishing the year with 19 goals and 17 assists in 37 games. Fox was -1 with 78 penalty minutes on an Erie team that had the OHL’s second worst record.

2013-14: Fox led the OHL with 64 goals as a 20-year-old; skating for an Erie team that had three of the league’s top four scorers. He had 43 assists and his 107 points were second to teammate Connor Brown (128) among OHL scorers. Erie rookie Connor McDavid was fourth in the league with 99 points. Fox was +46 in 67 regular season games and led the Otters with 122 penalty minutes. Erie finished second to eventual Memorial Cup runner-up Guelph in the Midwest Division and lost to the Storm in the Western Conference finals. Fox scored 8 goals with 11 assists and was +2 with 26 penalty minutes in 14 playoff games. Fox signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks as an undrafted free agent in December of 2013.

Talent Analysis

Fox has solid offensive skills but needs to work on his defensive game. He has good, but not great, speed and needs to improve on his first step and acceleration. Signed in the midst of an outstanding overage season, Fox was able to dominate the smaller and in many cases younger, players at the junior level with his strength, competitive drive and a booming shot. He will need to develop the supplementary areas of his game and improve his overall stick handling and passing and pass receiving skills to move up at the pro level.

Future

Fox was dealt by the Vancouver Canucks to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for future considerations. Long-term, his high end potential is that of a big bodied scorer with a physical edge to his game.

Photo: Vancouver Canucks prospect Alex Friesen is on pace to improve his scoring totals for a third consecutive professional season (courtesy of Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

Several Vancouver Canucks prospects have made their professional hockey debuts this season with the AHL’s Utica Comets and the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. The Comets came into the 2015-16 season with high expectations after competing for the Calder Cup in 2014-15. Several major personnel changes were made in the offseason however and it could be difficult for Utica to replicate the success they had a season ago. Here is a look at the personnel the Canucks have deployed in Utica and Kalamazoo this season and an assessment of how each player is doing so far in the 2015-16 season.